Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis (Tom Russell)

Subject: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis, lyrics anyone?
From: LesB
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 01:50 PM

Tich Frier sings a great song called "Isaac Lewis" written by Tom Russell.
Does anyone have the lyrics and/or a link to a sound clip for the tune?
Cheers
Les

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis, lyrics anyone?(Tom Russ
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 03:45 PM

Tom Russell has a very nice Website, http://www.tomrussell.com/. If you go to "merchandise," you can view the track listings for all of his recordings. The page instructs you to click on the song title for lyrics, if available - but I didn't find lyrics for any of the songs I clicked on. This song is on the 2003 album, Modern Art. Tom does a number of duets with Nanci Griffith on the CD, so I just may have to buy it.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis, lyrics anyone?(Tom Russ
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 04:33 PM

Here's my transcription of the fragment available at Amazon

....We could do, too.
So it's up that Mersey River out of Liverpool we flew
And some of us were sailors, all hardies, young and old
And some of us were pioneers, bound off for the gold
There were merchants and musicians, Christian soldiers of


(In case you question the value of a fragment - Jim Dixon and I post fragment transcriptions to help others search for the full lyrics)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis, lyrics anyone?(Tom Russell)
From: LesB
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 05:52 PM

Thanks Joe, I did the Tom Russell website too, & found no link.
When I heard Tich sing it last Sunday at the bothyfolkclub I am sure that i had heard it sung by an artist in a club within the last year. It may be that I heard Tich do it at Whitby Folk Week Last Aug, but it seemed fresher than that.
Cheers
Les

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis, lyrics anyone?(Tom Russell)
From: LesB
Date: 06 Jul 07 - 07:28 AM

refresh

Subject: Lyr Add: ISAAC LEWIS (Tom Russell)
From: Simon G
Date: 06 Jul 07 - 10:38 AM

ISAAC LEWIS
(Tom Russell)

My name is Isaac Lewis; I'm an able-bodied man
On the ship the Royal Charter, bound off for Van Diemen's Land.
Oh, the sea that took six months to cross, we could do in two,
So it's up that Mersey River, boys, out of Liverpool we flew.

And some of us were sailors, all hardy, young and old,
And some of us were pioneers, bound off for the gold.
There were merchants and musicians, Christian soldiers of the cross.
We stared into that foamy sea, saw our dreams down in the broth.

CHORUS: Sail on; sail on and on and on,
[For] my name is Isaac Lewis [and] this shall be my song.

So we landed there in Botany Bay, and the boys went on the town,
And I met a girl named Emma Gray; I loved her up and down,
And I swore that I'd return for her, one more tour of sea,
But I had to tell my father what he meant to me.

For every night I dreamed a dream, as the wind swept through the sails,
That I was in my father's house back in northern Wales,
And I reached out for my father; I said, "I love you very much,"
But the ship rolled o'er and the dream was drowned before we got to touch.

CHORUS

So I kissed the lips of Emma Gray and set sail for Liverpool,
And the parrots perched in the riggings, boys; dolphins swam in schools,
And our trip it was a pleasant one till we reached the coast of Wales.
One day out from Liverpool, God unleashed a gale.

Good Lord! I've seen some squalls, me boys, hurricanes at sea,
And many nights I'd rediscovered faith on bended knee,
But I never seen it blow so hard; we anchored her at last,
But the waves rolled o'er the top of us; we had to cut the mast.

And all the mining magnates clutched their gold, believing they'd be saved,
But their bloody greed destroyed them first beneath the angry waves.
All the women and the children, lost to eternity!
Ah, man has tamed and shaped the land, but he'll never tame the sea.

And every night I had dreamed a dream, as the wind swept through the sails,
That I was in my father's house, back in northern Wales,
And I reached for my father; I said, "I love you very much,"
But the ship rolled o'er and the dream was drowned before we got to touch.

CHORUS

We were caught upon the rocks ten yards from the shore,
And we saw men standing on the rocks, maybe three or more,
And I swear I saw my father waving at me through the squall,
And I screamed that I was coming home; that's all that I recall.

For the waves they swept me overboard with broken mast and sails,
And I drowned where as a child I'd fished on the rocks of northern Wales,
And in three days time I washed upon the whitened sandy shore,
One hundred yards from Moelfre and my father's white oak door.

CHORUS

And some will cry coincidence, or say this can't be true.
I only say just tell your loved ones what they mean to you,
For ye may sail the sea of life, pursuing golden schemes,
Yet drown so closely to your home, the cradle of your dreams.

CHORUS: Sail on; sail on and on and on,
My name is Isaac Lewis; this has been my song.
My name is Isaac Lewis, and this shall be my song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis, lyrics anyone?(Tom Russell)
From: LesB
Date: 06 Jul 07 - 10:45 AM

Thanks Simon, all i've got to do now is remember the tune.
Cheers
Les

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,WildBilly
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 02:03 PM

Thanks- This song sounds like an orignal British folk ballad. Thanks for the good work transcribing it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis (Tom Russell)
From: evansakes
Date: 12 Oct 09 - 06:43 PM

In a couple of weeks it will be the 150th anniversary of the sinking of the 'Royal Charter' in a gale off the coast of Anglesey.

http://www.anglesey-hidden-gem.com/royal-charter.html

Tom had written 'Isaac Lewis' after an old man handed him a copy of a book telling the story of the lost ship (Tom had been playing a gig at the Victoria Hotel, Menai Bridge eight or nine years ago and wrote the song shortly after)

http://www.avidpublications.co.uk/golden_wreck.htm

The song's story is basically true. After travelling to Australia and back Isaac Lewis really did did drown within sight of his family home in Moelfre, Anglesey.

Just to clarify the last line of the penultimate verse above should in fact read "One hundred yards from Moelfre"

Finally, here's a great video of Tom performing the song accompanied by Andrew Hardin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ALfs81CFdE

Subject: RE: Lyr Req:chords : Isaac Lewis (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,les
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 12:52 PM

anybody got the chords for this great song please

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,les
Date: 08 Jul 10 - 04:23 AM

Hi for LesB on youtube you can see tom russell or tich frier perform this great song good luck and enjoy les

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,Isaac Lewis
Date: 25 May 11 - 04:20 AM

This is weird, my name really is Isaac Lewis (my home page), and I'm from North Wales. I was never in a shipwreck, though

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Isaac Lewis (Tom Russell)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 May 11 - 08:13 PM

For background, here are some articles from Wikipedia:

Royal Charter (ship)

Royal Charter Storm

Moelfre